James 1:5–8 — if you lack wisdom, ask

Through James, part 3 · James 1:5–8

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." (James 1:5–8)

What wisdom is

Webster defined wisdom as "the right use or exercise of knowledge." The Greek word carries the idea of forming the best plans and using the best means to carry them out. Spiritual wisdom is the practical application of our Lord's teaching to real life. It's not knowing more; it's knowing what to do.

And James puts it right after trials on purpose. We are not going to understand why a trial has come into our life on our own. We need to ask.

Ask — God is not hiding His purpose

Jesus said, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7). God will not withhold His purpose from us if we seek to know what it is.

So our first response to a trial should be: "What should I learn from this, and how is it going to help me mature?" Maybe you need to rely on God more. Maybe you need to give something up. Maybe you need to pray more, be a better friend, a better spouse or parent, more compassionate, more patient, more careful with money. If the same kind of thing keeps happening to you, instead of getting frustrated by it, start asking what you're supposed to learn from it.

Trials are like lifting weights. To grow your whole body you have to put a variety of muscles under pressure, and it's the same spiritually. For you to mature completely as a Christian, a variety of spiritual muscles have to be put under load. Different trials work different muscles.

God gives liberally and without reproach

God gives liberally — the old word for generously. He doesn't ration wisdom. And He upbraideth not, which means He doesn't scold you for needing it. You will never come to God asking for wisdom and have Him say, "You again?" He wants you to ask.

The condition: ask in faith

Faith here means two things. That God has your best interest in mind and that He is good. And that He will actually show you what you should gain from this trial. God is not trying to trick you. Remember those tests in grade school that said "read every question before you begin"? God isn't running that kind of test. He wants you to pass.

When we waver in faith, we have no stability in trouble. We all know people who are unstable — great trust in God one moment, doubting Him the next; trusting His promises on Monday, feeling forgotten by Thursday. James says that person is like the sea, driven and tossed. God doesn't give insight into our trials through that kind of instability. Sometimes He calms the storm; other times He calms His child. But He does neither for the one who won't trust Him.

If you struggle to believe God is good, do a study on the goodness and love of God before you do anything else. Because if you lack the faith that God has your best interest at heart, trials will only be trouble, and you won't learn from them. When you can't trace His hand, trust His heart.

The whole idea

The source of wisdom is God. It's obtained by prayer. It's available to everybody. It's given generously and without reproach. And the one condition is that we ask in faith, without doubting.

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